The Rokovaya Zhenshchina
by ThePhantomLord
Summary: When a young Russian girl is taken away from her home by mysterious men, she will find her life change forever. The backstory of Phantom's second in command Iryna, and how she came to be.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

* * *

" _Run, Iryna! Run and survive!"_

Those were the words Iryna kept to her heart as she ran through the russian snow as fast as she could. The 9 year old was out of breath, but she couldn't afford to stop running. She couldn't let those men catch her. Iryna turned around to make sure she wasn't being followed, but all she saw was fire. Houses burning, people screaming, gunshots echoing throgh the air; it was a massacre.

"Там есть один! ( _There's one_!)" She heard someone shout; amidst the flames she could see a man pointing towards her shouting to others. Snowmobiles quickly came from around the corner of her village and were making their way towards her, closing the distance between the two rapidly. Iryna panicked and kept on running, but there was no escaping such a machine. The snowmobile quickly past her and swirved to block her way, before another parked right behind her. Iryna was surrounded by four men, each dressed in black with ski masks on.

One of the men stepped forward towards Iryna. The young girl was shivering in place due to the cold and fear she was feeling, tears welling up in her eyes. A few moments passed before the man slapped Iryna across the face, sending the small child crashing into the snow.

"Мысль Вы могли бы уйти от нас?! ( _Thought you could get away from us_?!)" The man shouted at Iryna angrily as she held her cheek with running down her face. The man turned to the others and gave them orders Iryna couldn't hear, but quickly understood as they went to grab her. The child tried her best to fight them off, but they were too strong for her as they easily tied her up and attached her to one of the snowmobiles. The engines started up once again, taking Iryna back to her now ruined village.

* * *

It was a long ride in the back of an old, busted up truck. Iryna felt every bump and pothole in the road as they journeyed across Russia. It was barely lit inside the truck, but Iryna could still make a few familiar faces: people from her village, each one more terrified than the last. All of them were battered, bruised and cut, some crying as they all wondered what the hell was going to happen to them. Iryna kept to herself, crossing her hands between her legs with her head down: the last thing she wanted was to draw attention. Besides, she didn't see her parents in this truck. They could either be in another one, or they could be dead.

All of a sudden the trucks came to a halt causing everyone to turn towards the back doors. Footsteps could be heard around the vehicule before the hatch opened; armed gunmen stood on the other side yelling at everyone to get out. It didn't take them too long as soon everyone was outside the vehicule. As Iryna climbed out she got a good look at where she was: all she could see were the gunmen that had kidnapped her mixed with men that didn't seem to be from around here. Iryna also noticed they were near the seafront where a massive ship was waiting by the bank, along with other trucks and vans unloading prisoners. There must have been a good hundred people taken from their homes.

However in all the chaos Iryna saw something that caught her eye. Two men were talking to each other, their eyes sometimes landing on the captives as they discussed. One of them was bald, wearing a pure white suit underneath a brown coat as he wore a sick grin on his face and smoked his cigar. A scar could be seen under his left eye. The other one was much more oddly dressed: he was wearing a purple suit underneath a dark purple coat that he had over his shoulders. On his head was a strange hat that stuck upwards, resting atop his short blond hair that complimented his blond goatee. In his hand was a stick with a beautiful gem that glowed green from time to time.

The man in the purple suit snapped his fingers as one of the men stepped forward; a suitcase in his right hand. He gave the suitcase to the one in the white suit, who opened it without hesitation and grinned when he looked inside. He slammed the case shut, a grin still on his face as the two shook hands, and the scarred man yelled to their kidnappers:

"Поместите их на корабль! (Put them on the ship!)" He yelled. Masked gunmen surrounded each of the groups of prisoners, yelling at them to get on the ship. Everyone followed suit as they were boarded one group after the other. Iryna followed their orders to the letter. She hadn't seen her parents anywhere amongst the prisoners, which means they were most likely killed. Now she was all on her own.

Iryna's group was forced onto the vessel. It was damp, unlit and cramped with people screaming, crying and begging to go home. Iryna was trapped between a dozen of prisoners all sharing her fate as the operation continued. After a few moments Iryna heard a guard yelling that everyone was one. The cargo hatch closed slowly as soon Iryna was shrouded in total darkness.

* * *

For the next month Iryna, along with everyone else in the cargo shipped lived in the most deplorable of conditions. Iryna found herself cramped among hundreds of prisoners just like her, and they found themselves having to share what little supplies and food they were given. Strangely enough though Iryna noticed they were being treated better than expected: Everyday and at the same time, the hatches above opened, letting in the warm sunlight as the men who had taken them dropped loafs of bread down below. There was also a moment in the day when a few of them men came inside to clean up the floors of anything the prisoners may have let out, while others kept the prisoners at gunpoint. Iryna had heard stories and whispers from other prisoners that all this was unheard of; they would normally never clean it up and let people die in their remains. It was like they wanted to make sure as many people as possible were kept alive.

However, that did not mean everyone was able to make it through the journey. Those who did succumb to the extreme conditions were taken away by the cleaners; Iryna suspected they were thrown overboard by the sound of splashes she heard when they were taken away.

During the trip Iryna kept to herself, huddling into a corner just waiting for something to happen. If it wasn't the extreme conditions that would get to her, it would be the extreme boredom she felt being cooped up in this dark and damp ship. She was still scared for her life and only knew a few people on this ship, so she decided not to trust anyone. People tried to speak to her, but soon gave up when she delivered no response.

Finally, the ship stopped and the engines died down. Everyone stood quietly; not a sound could be heard inside the ship as they all wondered the same thing: where were they? And was it over?

The cargo hatch slowly opened, the groaning of metal filling the room as light envelopped the inside of the ship. It took Iryna a few seconds to adjust to daylight again, but once she could see properly the young russian made her way to the front of the crowd, wanting to know what was happening. The same purple man was standing at the entrance surrounded by men who had guns pointed straight at them, along with a woman in a grey uniform with glasses and her brown hair tied up in a bun. All the russians were terrified as Iryna hid behind some of the men and women, not wanting to stand out.

"How many have we lost?" The man in purple asked.

"12 out of 100, sir." The woman beside him replied. The purple man nodded and gave a sign to the men dressed in beige suits.

"Get them on the trucks to CADMUS." He stated simply. The men nodded and loaded their guns. The woman stepped forward in front of the crowd and cleared her throat.

"You will now get down from the ship and climb into the trucks." The woman yelled in perfect russian. "Any commotion, discussion or rebellion will result in immediate termination."

The men surrounding her brandished their weapons towards the crowd. One after the other the villagers got down from the ship and were loaded onto the vans. Iryna could see them drive off into the distance when they were full, and soon it was her turn. In complete cooperation Iryna stepped out of the cargo ship towards one of the trucks; 19 other prisoners joined her and helped ther into the back of the vehicule. Once everyone was on the gunman slammed the door shut and the truck left for it's final destination.

* * *

"Are you sure about testing it on her? It could just be a waste of the serum." A man in a formal black suit asked, stroking his brown van dyke beard and moustache with a homberg covering his brown hair.

"Or it could be just the one Dr. Cervan told us about. Someone young to adapt better to the serum. Surely you can see the logic in that Hiram." The purple man, now in a mustard colored suit and Top hat mentionned. His words brought a smile upon the 3rd member of their group. He was dressed in a typical scientist's labcoat, with a blank uniform underneath. He had a receeding hairline and big round glasses that he adjusted every other moment. All three of them were standing face to face to a glass cell, with on the other side a 9 year old Iryna who was sitting in the corner with her legs tucked in and her arms around them. Beside her was a plate of half-eaten food as the young girl looked depressed.

"I concur with Mr. Phantom." Dr. Cervan chuckled, pointing to the man in the mustard suit. "The other subjects failed to survive because their bodies could not adapt to the serum that was being injected. This caused strain to the body and made them all succumb to heart failures.. But if we take someone who is still young, still growing.. Then the serum may have a better chance of adapting to the body. Besides, even if she does die it'll only mean we have one less mouth to feed." Dr. Cervan laughed darkly.

Hiram Lodge sighed, before snapping his fingers as four men with a cart showed up.

"Take her to the lab." Hiram ordered.

The four men saluted as Hiram, Phantom and Dr. Cervan left for the labs themselves. After swiping a card the doors slid open causing Iryna to look up in fear. Four men dressed in black with white coats were approaching her, one with a syringe in hand as Iryna backed herself even more against the wall. She suddenly took a running dash forward to try and escape between the guards and out the door, but one of them was faster and caught her. Iryna thrashed around trying to break free, but she soon felt the needle stick into the back of her neck as the young russian felt herself losing consciousness. Once Iryna was out the men attached her to the cart and made their way to the lab.

The three men from before were already inside the lab as the doors slid open and Iryna was wheeled in. As they attached her with I.V bags, sedatifs, heart monitors and other equipment Phantom made his way to Hiram.

"I have a good feeling about this one." Phantom chuckled as Hiram rolled his eyes.

"You said that about the last test subject. And the last one. And the 27 before that." Hiram noted as Phantom laughed again.

"It's better to be an optimist than a pessimist like you Hiram." Phantom called out.

"I prefer to call it being a realist, my friend." Hiram smirked as soon everything was in place. Iryna was attached to the chair by her arms and legs, unconscious with oxygen flowing through a mask and IV bags. Dr. Cervan looked at her properly, making sure his underlings didn't do anything wrong.

"Everything is set. It is time to start the operation." Dr. Cervan called out as everyone got in position. Hiram and Phantom took to their seats as Cervan walked over to a locked cabinet. The clicking of the key echoed across the room due to everyone being silent, as the doctor pulled out a syringe filled with a blue liquid. Giving it a few taps Cervan stared at Iryna before making his way up to her.

"Subject A-30 is about to come in contact with the serum. Prepare for analysis." One of his scientist acolytes mentionned in a walkie-talkie as Cervan loomed over an unconscious Iryna. Rubbing her arm at the joint Cervan quickly found a vein and pierced it with the syringe. Everyone held their breaths as the blue liquid slowly flowed into Iryna's system. Soon every drop was gone as the doctor pulled out the syringe from her body, and everyone watched with anticipation. Her systems seemed stable for a few moments, however soon her heart was pumping at a massive rate causing the monitors to go crazy. Cervan cursed his luck as his accolytes went to stabalize Iryna. Now the monitor was giving a long and constant beep.

"She's having a heart attack! Defibrilator!" One of them called out as Cervan joined up with Hiram and Phantom.

"I warned you two." Hiram mentionned as Phantom sighed.

"The reasoning made sense." Phantom defended he and the doctor, who just growled angrily.

"I need to re-work on the forula. It must be too potent fo-"

His words were cut off by a beep. Then another beep. Beep. Beep. The trio turned around and saw Iryna's heart monitor was stable. No one could believe it, it had succeeded! The serum adapted to her body, just like Cervan deduced!

However before they could celebrate their success, her heart once again got faster. But this time, something else happened. Iryna's eyes shot wide open. The scientist next to her didn't even have time to react as Iryna snapped her arm restraint in one clean motion and rammed her forearm into the scientist's chest. The man flew across the room, crashing into another heart monitor that exploded with sparks.

"She's breaking free! Call the guards!" Hiram shouted at the top of his lungs. Two other scientists tried to hold her down, but Iryna easily broke free of the rest of the restraints and their grasp. With the speed of a demon Iryna rammed her head into a scientist's jaw from underneath, the force of the blow causing his head to tear off completely and bounce away. The remaining one had a look of complete fear on him as Iryna stared him down like an animal, her eyes now golden and angry. With a pounce she rammed her fist through his torso before kicking him away and sending the new corpse crashing against the wall.

More security guards entered the facility, guns at the ready as they opened fire. Iryna jumped from the table she was strapped on and flipped it over with ease, before delivering a huge boot to it. The table was sent flying across the room, ramming into guards and sending them across the facility. Iryna looked around again, searching for more people to kill. But a sharp sting made the young girl flinch as she clutched her neck. She felt something sticking into her before she started to feel very weak. In a few seconds Iryna fell to the ground, unconscious once again. Hiram and Cervan's eyes were wide from the entire event as they turned to Phantom, who was holding a gun in front of him as he breathed heavily with a smile.

"Tranquilizer... Enough to knock out an elephant..." Phantom huffed and puffed. The three remaining men looked around at the remains of the massacre before their eyes landed on Iryna. They circled around the unconscious little russian, still not believing what just happened.

"Well gentlemen." Hiram called out. "I believe this was a success."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

* * *

"Subject A-30 has been silent for 4 days, and has not attempted speech for 31 days." Dr. Cervan mentionned in his recorder. "Contact with subject shall be attempted once more by Dr. Dragner."

Down below a man dressed in a casual white shirt and jeans stood in front of a reinforced glass container, gulping as he knew what lay inside. At the center of the 50ft wide and 20ft tall container was Iryna, laying on the floor in a star shaped position. She looked completely void of emotion, her eyes lacking any life behind them. She stayed there, immobile as the doors slid open. The man entered the complex slowly, like he was entering a lion's den with a steak in hand.

"I-Iryna?" The man called out timidly as the doors closed behind him. Iryna lay motionless on the floor, not even responding to the sound of her own name.

"Iryna, I was wondering if you wanted to play a game?" The man asked again. "I have a deck of cards, we could play something with that."

Still no reaction came from Iryna. The man sighed; all he wanted to do was to get the hell out of there.

"I could... I could always find another game if you prefer. Tell me what you want to play and we can-"

The man screamed as he saw Iryna shoot up from her position and ran towards him at speeds unrivaled by any man. He tried to make a run for it, but Iryna pounced on him and tackled him to the ground effortlessly. Grabbing his head with one hand Iryna gave a forceful tug as the head of the man came clean off. Blood spewed all over the floor and herself, before Iryna screamed primaly and threw the head towards Dr. Cervan up above. The head splattered against the glass of her cage, becoming nothing more than a bloodstain on the wall as Cervan sighed heavily.

"Contact failed. Dr. Dragner terminated." The doctor stated into his recorder. He pushed a button on his command board and leaned into the microphone. "Someone clean up the cell." He stated with irritation in his voice.

The doors to Iryna's cell opened up once more as armed forces entered. The soldiers aimed their sights down onto Iryna, who growled and sat still as they took the body away. The men tried to keep their calm, but they could all be seen trembling slightly at the sight of the little girl. One of them panicked too much and accidentally fired. The bullet hit Iryna in the shoulder, causing her to ricochet sideways but still sitting upright. The men, all in a state of panic that they might have angered her dragged the body away quickly and locked the doors behind them. Iryna moved back into place and dug her fingers into the wound. Without the slightest wince of pain Iryna pulled the bullet out of her shoulder and watched as the bullet wound started to heal itself. The young russian crushed the bullet in her fingers, and returned to her old position as she stared into the ceiling. Dr. Cervan watched the young girl attentively from up above, leaning in his chair as he rubbed his temple.

"Things not going your way, old chap?" Dr. Cervan heard a voice from behind. Swivling his chair around he saw Phantom and Hiram standing behind him, looks of dissapointment apparent on both of their faces.

"No, they are not "old chap" ". Dr. Cervan groaned. "She is still as uncooperative as they day we injected her".

"Uncooperative might not be the right choice of words, Cervan." Hiram mentionned as he looked out the window to see the bloodstain in the cell. "Animalistic would be a better choice of words at this point."

"Yes, well at least with these... attacks, we've been able to determine her new abilities over the last month." Cervan mentionned. "She has demonstrated superior strength, speed, and reflexes, while also showing signs of rapid regeneration."

"She's like a walking tank." Phantom mentionned as he looked down at the little girl.

"And one that packs quite a punch. I've had to install the strongest glass known to man to keep her in, and even then I fear that with age her strength will grow enough to break through even that. Cervan explained.

"We need to find a way to control her, or at least let go of that primal rage inside. Then maybe she'll be more cooperative." Hiram offered, only for Phantom to scoff.

"She has killed every person who was sent in there to try and tame her. How are we supposed to befriend her if she keeps on ripping heads off like a turkey at Christmas?" Phantom sighed.

"Well she won't trust any of us." Hiram chuckled. "We did kidnap her and inject her with a serum that turned her into a war machine. But someone from the outside, someone... who she thinks she can trust could benefit both her and us."

"And what kind of person are you suggesting Hiram?" Cervan asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Well, someone around her age would be more suitable. After all no one would suspect a child working for us." Hiram then turned to Phantom, a slight smile on his face. "Phantom... don't you have a child back at home?"

Phantom snapped his head towards Hiram in shock, before anger overtook him. "If you think I'm sending my own son in there with that... monster! Then you have another thing coming Lodge! And that's my fist down your throat!"

"Gentlemen, gentlemen please!" Cervan tried to calm down Phantom. "Hiram was only making a suggestion... Although as ludicrous as it may sound, it could just work."

"Cervan, I am NOT sending my son down there and that is final!" Phantom bellowed out, red from anger as Hiram rested a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll have extra-protection for your child, Phantom." Hiram told him. "If worse comes to worse, we'll kill her before letting any harm befall your beloved..."

"Lawrence." Phantom finished Hiram's sentence."

"Yes, of course." Hiram smiled. "Your child will be safe, old friend."

Phantom rummaged it over, forcing Hiram to take his hand off his shoulder as he stroked his goatee. He didn't want to put his only son in this postion with that monster, but it didn't look like any other options were available. Hiram's daughter was too young and Cervan never had kids. Iryna was the only kid that survived the transport, and kidnapping another one would take too much time. With a heavy sigh Phantom turned back to his partners.

"Alright. I'll bring him tomorrow."

* * *

"Daddy, where are we going?" A small boy, no older than 7 asked. Dressed in a simple black T-shirt and jeans the kid followed Phantom and a squadron of armed men down a corridor where a set of glass doors were waiting at the end. For once in his life Phantom had a look of pure worry on his face, but tried his best to hide it as he ruffled his kid's short blond hair.

"You're going to see a new friend Lawrence." Phantom smiled to his kid, his voice trembling ever so slightly. "There's someone on the other side of those doors who's been wanting a new playmate, but there are no other kids down here who want to play with her."

"That's sad." Lawrence said to his father. "I'd like to play with her."

"That's my boy." Phantom smiled, holding back a small tear. "Now listen, she can sometimes get a bit... naughty. Which is why for now she is grounded."

"Is that why she is behind that door?" Lawrence asked as his father nodded.

"Yes, that is exactly why." Phantom said. "These men are going to follow you to her, and make sure that if she gets naughty you won't get hurt, ok?"

Lawrence looked up to one of the soldiers who carried on looking forward towards the glass door. Lawrence turned back to his father and smiled brightly.

"Ok!" He exclaimed. Phantom patted his boy on the shoulders and gave him one last hug, before standing up and looking straight at the captain of the squadron.

"If anything happens to my little boy, you better pray she gets to you first." Phantom threatened the captain, who nodded with a slight tinge of fear in his eyes either for Iryna or Phantom. Phantom returned upstairs where his collegues Hiram and Cervan were waiting for him.

"Did the boy accept?" Cervan asked nonchalantly.

"Yes, he did." Phantom stated with a sigh. Hiram made his way to Phantom and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Everything will turn out alright. You'll see." He stated with a knowing smile.

Phantom just gave Hiram a slight look from the corner of his eyes, before both men took their seats on either side of Cervan. Cervan pulled out his recorder once again and pressed on record.

"Subject A-30 has been silent for one day, and has not attempted speech for 32 days." Cervan spoke. " Contact with subject shall be attempted once more by Lawrence Arlington."

The doors closed behind Lawrence, leaving him alone in the cell with Iryna. The young Russian was sitting in the center of the room, digging her nails into the ground to draw. The sound of gravel being crushed under her index finger was the only sound that could be heard in the room.

Lawrence smiled brightly and headed over to Iryna with a run. Phantom shot out of his seat, watching his child dash towards her as he held sheer panic in his eyes.

"No Lawrence! Don't run!" Cervan called out angrily, but had no way of communicating to the boy.

"Stop! Stop she's going to kill him!" Phantom cried out.

"It's too late to stop the operation! The soldiers step in and she'll kill them all!" Cervan explained irritated.

"You said he'd be protected Lodge!" Phantom bellowed out towards Hiram who just kept on watching.

"I had to convince you somehow, old friend." Hiram mused to himself. Phantom was about to attack Hiram when suddenly he heard a small thump. Looking down everyone saw Lawrence flat on the ground from having fallen over an untied shoelace. They could almost see the tears well up in his eyes as the young boy started to cry, wrapping himself up into a ball. No one moved a muscle; they had no idea what to do.

Then, something happened. Iryna got up from the ground and slowly started to make her way towards Lawrence. Phantom was beyond worry as he saw her only a few feet away from his little boy.

"The crying must be angering her! Call in the guards!" Phantom shouted at Cervan, who agreed and went to press on the intercom. However Lodge placed a hand on Cervan's to hold it in place as a look of awe struck his face.

"No, look!" Hiram called out.

Cervan and Phantom turned to the cell, where they saw Iryna gently pick up Lawrence of the ground. Cradling him Iryna sang a small russian tune with a voice like an angel, smiling at the small boy. Lawrence's crying began to slow down as he rubbed his eyes and looked up to Iryna. Seeing her warm made him smile as well as he rested against her chest while she carried on singing.

Once Iryna stopped singing, Lawrence looked up to her with a smile.

"That was a pretty song." He smiled at the young russian, who couldn't help but return the grin.

"Mother sang it to me when I was hurt." Iryna spoke her first words for months. "It always calmed me down. Was hoping it would do same for you."

"Since when can she speak English?" Phantom asked Cervan, who only shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe she picked it up from other people. Her brain has also been amplified, so her learning abilities have been heightened as well no doubt." Cervan answered before they turned back to the cell.

"My name's Lawrence." Lawrence told her. "What's yours?"

"Iryna. Pleased to meet you, Lawrence." Iryna said.

"Do you want to play with me?" The young boy asked. Iryna couldn't help but chuckle at his words. It had been ages since she was able to play with someone.

"Yes. I would like it very much." Iryna smiled. The two kept on talking as Cervan, Phantom and Hiram all stared at the scene with shock and surprise.

"I don't believe it..." Cervan muttered to himself, watching the scene take place.

"And look at her eyes..." Hiram mentionned to the other two. Looking closer, both men could see they were no longer their golden colour, but had now returned to normal instead.

"It looks like... She's calmed down from her frenzy..." Phantom pulled a hankerchief out of his chest pocket and wiped his forehead with it. He was still shaking from the whole ordeal. Cervan pressed the record button on his recorder.

"Subject A-30 has been calmed down by Lawrence Arlington." Cervan spoke into his device. "Future attemps at cooperation shall be made by the aformentionned Lawrence, along with staff members. Today has been a total success."


End file.
